A morning at the Slough

This morning Elaine and I headed for the Six Mile Cypress Slough - a wonderfully peaceful boardwalk that takes you through a gentle forest that often provides delightful surprises and today was no exception, come along and see.....

But first it is customary to peruse the parking lot area - this squirrel sure made us smile.

And this was before finding this rock within the butterfly garden - the little note attached to it said to either keep it, leave it there or move it elsewhere - pass the 'smile' around - I know just where to put it.

Shortly after entering the boardwalk we found this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron....

look how well it blends in.

A very colorful Green Heron made a quick appearance too.

An adult Black-crowned Night Heron was spotted drinking some water.

A male Anhinga was busy preening its plumage....

notice how bright the eyes are and how lush his plumes are....it's breeding time!

The slough wouldn't be the slough without its ever expanding Woodpecker families....

A male Pileated was quite busy finding insects to eat while the youngster watched.

We were looking at the Snail Eggs when a Gator decided to pass by

It made us smile to see it as the Great Egret looked on.

A Red-Shouldered Hawk gave us good looks...

while the Tufted Titmouse carried on with their melodies.

This turned out to be another swell morning and it is now time for us to leave and make room for all the folks coming through the boardwalk.

Big Cypress area with the Caloosa Bird Club

It's Monday - which means Caloosa Birding Club day and today's first destination: Ten Thousand Islands - come along and take a peek....

 A trail off the busy path of US 41- worth checking into the next time you are in the area.

We slowly and quietly took on the trail - observing the wild life around us. Several Wood Storks were seen feeding in the twinkling water.

Anhingas consuming its favorite food: fish!

A bush full of Little Blue Herons - immature (white) and adults (blue). A great walk on the wild side - My E-Bird list for this trail. Then we were off to our next location...

We had hoped to see the Barred Owl along the boardwalk but tried as we may we were not able to locate it - however we had some great views of this Yellow-bellied Sapsucker....

If you look closely you can actually see where it quietly tapped and formed shallow holes in the tree bark - all lined up in a row, this sapsucker feeds on sap and on insects attracted to the sap.

Off in the distance, a large gator was resting. The size of the gators seen in the Everglades are humongous in comparison to the gator that we have on the island where I live.

The scenery along the Big Cypress Bend Fakahatchee is just breathtaking - my photos can not do it justice....one person that has worked its magic with conveying the proper feeling of this environment is Clyde Butcher hands down.

How about this Black-and-white Warbler! Overheard from the group was: "Oh, that's a good bird!" - I ask you: "Is there a bad bird?". LOL

Do you think the Great Blue Heron liked all the attention? It seems to be in deep complicated thoughts.

On the way out we all feasted our eyes on a Black-crowned Night Heron which was busy trying to eat a Gar.

Haha! Check out my catch!

Yumm...this will be delicious.....

"Perhaps I bit more than I can chew." And so, we must thank this little fellow for the close-up entertainment. My E-Bird List for this location.

 It was time to move on to the next stop: Kirby Storter Roadside Park - another 20 miles south or so from the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk. As we were traveling on U.S.41 at 60mph, we encountered above us a cloud of.....

Tree Swallows - hard to tell exactly how many there was - estimated to be over 10,000 at the very least. We wished we could have pulled over to observe and feel the phenomena of such spectacle - truly a memorable moment.

They were seen landing on nearby twigs. (this photo was taken a year prior but it serves its purpose here).

Shortly after we arrived at our last destination.

Another boardwalk which takes us deep into the wild - yet so close to U.S. 41 (traffic zooming by could still be heard).

Yet, there is a quiet peacefulness within the area.

My group seen observing warblers way up in the tree top - a great neck exercise in addition to savoring the eye candy.

Gar fish - the favorite food of many birds.

A small lizard seen basking in the warmth of the sun.

It's time to wrap it up .... now that we've fed our souls it is time to feed our stomach.

While we finished up our lunches and tallied up our bird sighting - a few Tree Swallows made a brief appearance to bid us farewell till the next time. My E-Bird list for this location.

Sunday surprises at the Sanibel Garden Preserve

A peaceful Sunday this morning with the trail, my friend Adele and our feathered friends, of course.

One of those feathered friend played hard to see and kept staying just out of sight....."Aha! I see you now!"

I finally got a good look of his belly - enough to help me identify "her" as a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. The yellowish hues of her belly, the white edges of her wings, her white throat and wide black band on her neck were the magic clues that I needed.....the male would have sported a bright red throat.

The Eastern Phoebe on the other hand was right out in the open - looking this way....

and that way....

with a glint of an eye sparkle.

Then, the Osprey - oh my! - there it was with its fresh catch.....so fresh that the tail kept on flipping.

As I uploaded my photos the fish became in focus - making me wonder whether it was a Jack or Angel fish. So, my son the fisherman in the family, came to the rescue with identification....

A Lookdown - I googled it and found out that this fish naturally occurs in the Gulf of Mexico - I learn something new every day! Thank you Tony.

After spending 3 hours on the trail it was time to say "farewell" and until the next time.....another great day....life is good!